SUKKUR, June 26 In addition to routine loadshedding, electricity consumers have been braving frequent power tripping and breakdowns for two years due to overloading of two of the three grid stations of Sukkur city.

According to inside sources, two transformers of 10MVA and 13MVA have been installed at the city grid station to cater to power requirements of 10 feeders of the city, including Shahi Bazaar, Bunder road, Shikarpur road, Mir Masoom Shah, Military road, Bachal Shah, Nishter road, Pakistan Railway, New Barrage and Shams Abad feeders. They have been overloaded for the last two years.

Two transformers having capacities of 10/13 MVA and 20/26 MVA have been installed at Site grid station, which is supplying power to 12 feeders, including Qureshi road, New Pind, ADC (industrial), Jeay Shah, Royal road, Shalimar, New Bunder, Golimar-I, Society, Qasim Abad, Sarrafa Bazaar and Ahmed Nagar feeders. They are also overloaded.

Arain grid station having two transformers of 10/13 MVA and 20/26 MVA was supplying power to 11 feeders including, Shahrah-i-Abbasi, Fruit and vegetable market, Chak, Bagarji-I and II, Indus Valley, Tower, Pakistan Air Force-I and II, Naseer Abad and Golimar-II feeders. It has capacity to accommodate one or two additional feeders.

Sources said that keeping in view the growing demand of power in the city and condition of existing transformers of city and Site grid stations, the Hesco chief executive had sanctioned a heavy duty transformer 40MVA two years ago to facilitate avoidance of overloading. But nothing had been done to install that transformer.

When contacted, the executive engineer sub-station and transmission grid system operation Sukkur, Manzoor Hussain Kakepoto, confirmed that city grid station and Site grid station had been overloaded.

He also said work to construct a platform for installing the heavy duty transformer at the Site grid station was in progress.

Asked why one or two feeders of city or Site grid stations had been not shifted to Arain grid station, the official said he was not empowered to do that.

Operation officials could do that job, he added.

This correspondent tried hard to contact local Hesco officers, including Sukkur power chief engineer Shamsuddin Shaikh, but they were not available for comments.